For us there were three that we always wanted to visit - The Westin St John, the Cabo San Lucas resorts, and Harborside Atlantis.
Glad it worked for you, and others too I'm sure.
For us personally Vistana and Westin add no locations that are desirable. We aren't going to do a water taxi, have no interest in Atlantis unless going to a conference where my company would be paying and likely won't return to MX but if we do it's an easy exchange to a boatload of great options. Thus from our point of view the only thing we get out of it is volume. Not that additional options in great locations like Maui aren't helpful, it's just that the additional competition and additional options are a wash at best.
The problem with Cancun is it really lacks good non AI options. Even in the Riviera Maya the options are very limited now that Vidanta has jacked up the resort fees. There aren't a boatload of options in the Yucatan. Cabo has many other options. The good thing though, Vistana resorts in Mexico are farily easy exchanges as long as you are okay with a 1BR or a studio.
We really have no desire to go back to MX but if we did it would be Cabo. We've been to Cancun, Cabo and Nuevo Vallarta, and feel we're done but our favorite of all of those was Cabo staying in San Jose del Cabo
I would also add that Vistana resorts in both Scottsdale/Phoenix and Palm Desert are superior to the Marriott properties. Certainly this is subjective. I think the added Vistana resorts in Maui are also a big lift. For us it is more than just additional dots on the map but rather better resorts in some of the same locations. I always like more choices.
That's why I stated that they add volume without location but it does come with the cost of additional competition for the options I do want. For me personally it's a wash AT BEST and likely more problems than benefits.
Still all US and MX centric, there's a big world out there with great resorts and excellent quality, shame Sheraton and Westin brings nothing but competition for club points booking for those who have been booking those resorts.
It doesn't bring any copetition from us. We won't be using Club Points from our Vistana ownerships to book Marriott resorts. That said, I do kindof agree but if you talk to sales reps at Vistana properties, the story is much different. All about how it is going to be so much harder for us to use our StarOptions because all the Marriott people wanting to stay at Kierland and other fantastic Westin properties!
Ha yes each perspective is right.
I don't wish to impune your choices (nor the choices of those who purchase the WSJ water taxi) but there is no reason to take the WSJ water taxi to St John. The car barge is a great option for those who want a comparatively inexpensive 4x4 on St John and the subsidized ferries from Red Hook and Charlotte Amalie to Cruz Bay are a steal. Where else can you get an hour+ long sightseeing cruise with beautiful coastline and water views for $3.50-$13?!?
That's...Brilliant! I usually book 1BRs because my love and I have different sleep schedules...but it had never occurred to me to stash our luggage in our car.
Anywhere in Asia
I haven't had the pleasure outside of Japan. And while I've loved our visits, 'inexpensive' has never entered the lexicon for pretty much any activity. Aside from the ramen shops...where 'comparatively inexpensive' for the quality of ingredients and attention to detail was definitely part of the experience.
Indeed Japan is notorious for being expensive, unlike many other Asian countries, and we have excellent MVC properties to explore there.
No worries, it's motion sickness that is the issue thus I don't think we'd be comfortable taking the chance. We might do OK, esp if we take meclizine, but we'd hate to have such an issue so we'll pass. It does sound like an amazing area and resort though and it's the only destination for Westin that I see that adds benefit. As has been mentioned, some of the resorts add volume for nice resorts and for some, nicer resorts than the MVC options. I've stayed at Westins on Maui and several Vistana options. We tend to be kitchen oriented as well which does detract slightly for some of them.
Shhhhhh. Best to not have too many tourists aggravating the locals, who will then demand non-tourist laws and higher fees on tourists. It has already begun in Japan.
When was the last time you were there? Since 1995:
But aren't those owners brining their own inventory along with them in order to play in the system? In order for a Vistana owner to reserve something in Abound, they have to pony up what they own. So in the end the inventory balances out. MVC has added Costa Rica and Bali locations outside the US with an additional location coming to Thailand. They do need more Caribbean locations IMO.Ha yes each perspective is right.
Adding 200k users to the MVC destations Club, Many of whom have high points per week has the opportunity to increase pressure on the already constrained non-US availability, while adding no additional locations outside of US and MX.
Its Trust Points owners I feel for.
Westin properties are only fantastic if you want to go where they are, which is very limited.
Indeed they do, as I said, it brings more US/MX inventory to Trust points owners, and some of the Sheraton and Westin owners can deposit one week and get a boat load of club points that can enable them to book more than one week at a non-US location, even in mid to high season.
Almost every single points user has some type of planned usage and that planned usage will not be balanced across all resorts or weeks. The variation in points cost will account for this somewhat but not completely. Therefore adding significant inventory has the potential of adding to this problem. In a pure points system this is actually more controllable to a large degree (but not completely) but in this hybrid model I suspect it's a much larger problem as it's likely the lower demand times that will end up in the mix (I'm not taking points on my HH Plat weeks). For example, you're more likely to get added MB or Orlando inventory than HI inventory added. This issue existed before the merger but it's likely to be even worse in the expanded model. By nature a points system evens out inventory in the end as those with points will either have to use them somewhere or lose them. This also has the possibility of affecting inventory on the weeks side because of the control method that MVC uses to determine what weeks within a season at a given resort are book using points at 13 months out.
